Dinner Party
by elsiecarson
Summary: This is a totally different interpretation of the Persephone myth. Persephone and Hades love each other and they have been invited to a dinner party on Olympus and Persephone is trying to calm Hades down. Short and sweet!
1. Chapter 1

Hades looks up from his paperwork as I enter the room. "You've been working awfully hard, my lord. Why don't you take a break and come and sit with me and relax for a moment? You need to consider going to bed soon anyways." Persephone asks as she comes closer to her husband and brushes his hair back off his forehead and places a kiss on his forehead.

"I don't have time right now, Persephone. These briefs have to be read and answered so that my council has something to do." Hades says as he slicks his hair back again. It is too long and is beginning to really bother him.

"Hades you won't do your work any better if you don't let your brain rest for a while. Come and sit for a moment there's something I want to discuss with you." Persephone says as she sinks onto the black micro suede sofa in the sitting room next to Hades' office.

Hades runs his hands over his face. He doesn't want to fight with his wife right now. He's got enough to deal with without having to cope with an irate wife. "All right Persephone, but just for a moment. I have to get these documents completed today. The council's been screaming for them for days."

"I just need a moment, Hades, my love. And please don't interrupt me with complaints until I'm finished. This is hard enough to ask you without you interrupting me at every possible moment." Persephone says as she pours a cup of coffee for her husband.

"Why do I get the distinct feeling that I'm not going to like what you're about to say?" Hades asks eying his wife suspiciously.

"Because I phrased my speech so carefully?" Persephone asks biting the end of her thumb nail out of anxiety. She knows that Hades knows that something is going on.

"Could be. Usually you don't hold anything back when you talk to me, but just now you phrased everything very carefully indeed. I notice when things are out of character for you, Persephone. I know you well enough." Hades says as he looks at his wife over the rim of his coffee mug.

"Zeus and my mother would like to see us more often and I thought that we should develop our family relationship." Persephone says as she smoothes the pleats of her aubergine dress and tries not to look guilty. "Father has invited us for dinner tomorrow. Are you willing to come with me?" She asks quietly.

"If I must see my brother and your mother I will. My brother will gloat though and you know how I hate that, but to support you I will go. I have to show him how much I love you." Hades says groaning slightly.

"Let him gloat. You're happy now Hades and no one should be able to take that away from you especially not an arrogant little brother. Just be polite to father and mother and everything will be fine." Persephone says as she leans towards him slightly and kisses his cheek. Hades blushes. "You should get your hair cut before tomorrow though or father will be all over you."

"For you, my love, I will be on my very best behaviour. Anything else? Should I be dressed in a particular style or anything? Was that all you wanted to talk about Persephone?" Hades asks as he finishes his coffee and begins to relax slightly and is able to tease his wife over tomorrow night's dinner engagement even though he's dreading the whole event.

"Oh, Hades you're being silly. I just thought it would be nice if you got a haircut before we left. Your clothes can be whatever you want. Your hair has been annoying you I noticed it when I walked in and it's annoying me too. I can't see your handsome face under that blanket of dark hair. You look so much more handsome when your hair is cut. Just do it so Zeus doesn't tease you." Persephone implores her husband.

"I won't do it for my brother, but I will do it for you because I love you. My brother hasn't earned my respect enough for me to do anything for him. Zeus doesn't respect me enough to do anything I ask, so why on earth should I do anything for him?" Hades says glaring somewhere into the middle distance just behind his wife and then smiles gently down at her.


	2. Time for Bed

"Thank you, my love. I appreciate it very much indeed. It makes life so much easier if I don't have to fight with my father when we go visit tomorrow. It's bad enough that my mother and Hera have to be in the same room without me ending up fighting with my father. I love him, but he is annoying sometimes." Persephone says as she strokes his cheek with her knuckles.

"You've only had to deal with him for one millennium. Imagine how I must feel having grown up with him and lived with him for two and a half millennia. He has this superiority complex that is driving me nuts. Poseidon, Zeus, Demeter, Hestia, Hera, and I are all equal, but Zeus thinks that because he is king of the gods and rules Olympus he is superior to all of us and Hera allows him to treat us that way. Poseidon, Zeus and I divided up the world equally and Poseidon and I still have to bow before him. I wish I could make him understand. "Hades gets frustrated with his brother very easily. The glare on his face is enough to make Persephone shiver.

"Hades you can't change your brother. After two and a half millennia you must realise that he is very set in his ways. You just need to be aware of how he is and be prepared to handle everything that he can possibly throw at you." Persephone says calmly. She's spent enough time fighting with her father to know that he's not about to change any time soon. Hades yawns as she talks and Persephone smiles softly at him. "Hades you need to go to bed. You're exhausted and so am I."

Hades tries to weakly protest, but is so tired that he allows Persephone to pull him up and walk him to the bedroom. He flops onto the bed with his hands over his face and when he opens his eyes again Persephone is kneeling above him with her knees on each side of his waist. She bends forward and kisses Hades' lips. Hades' arms come up and loop around Persephone's waist. Neither of them pull away from the kiss. Persephone reaches down and unpins Hades' charcoal grey toga and pulls it down to expose his muscular chest. She rakes her fingers, currently painted scarlet, down his chest and Hades shivers. Hades kisses the tips of Persephone's fingers as she touches his face. Hades yawns. "Roll over, Hades, and I'll give you a back massage."

Hades groans as he rolls over. His back is bothering him from leaning over his desk all day. He sighs as he feels Persephone's fingers start working on his knots. "That feels nice." He says quietly.


End file.
